Sound

There are two types of sounds that RemoteSign produces. First there are the clicking sounds it makes when animated signs are changing, then there are the sounds that are produced as the result of playing a sound file.

There are 5 ways to switch the sounds on or off.

From the main sign screen press the 'S' key to toggle the sounds on or off.

From the text input screen check or uncheck 'Allow sounds' check box.

From a connected machine, Press 'On' or 'Off' button in the Connection screen

Sound files

RemoteSign will play multiple files simultaneously.
Sound files can be automatically loaded when a RemoteSign file is loaded or they can be played on demand remotely.
There is also a sound file browser that lets you preview the sound files on your machine and also play them on a connected machine.
Sounds can also be played using the {PLAY} command from other software

Note that by setting up a series of RemoteSign files, each of which auto loads a sound file, you can create a sequence of sounds as long and complex as you like.

Sound player

Pressing 'P' from the main screen will bring up the sound file browser

If you are connected to a second machine you can also play a file of the same name and folder of the second machine. Check the 'Remote' checkbox to also play the sound on the connected machine.

Local and remote sounds.

If you want to play sounds on a remote machine, using two copies of RemoteSign, it is recommended that you place the sound files you wish to play on both computers in the same folder structure. This will let you browse sound files on one machine and have it send a {PLAY} command to the second machine which will find the files in the same named folder. If RemoteSign cannot find the sound file it has been told to play, it will also look for it in the 'Sounds' folder within the RemoteSign installation folder, so that is a good place to put your sound files.

Where to get sound files

There are hundreds of web sites such as http://www.sounddogs.com that provide sound effects that you can use. You can record your own or download free ones or buy them from numerous sources. Google searches for .wav or .mp3 sound effects on your topic of interest will likely find you plenty to choose from. The few files that come with RemoteSign are simply to demonstrate the use of sound files.

Sound files can add a whole new dimension to a train layout or can add ambience to whatever theme you choose for your RemoteSign. By adjusting sound files with sound editing software such as GoldWave, you can make sounds pan from one speaker to the other or emanate from only one speaker to create spatial effects or localized sounds.